FTV has been operating in Canada since 2008. Distributed by Ethnic Channels Group, the channel offers fresh daily programs in Tagalog and English direct from the Philippines.

About Ethnic Channels Group Limited

Ethnic Channels Group Limited is based in Markham, Ontario. Offering more than 100 of the best television channels from around the world for viewers across 30 ethnic communities in Canada. Its channel offering continues to grow and expand with rich foreign and in-house produced content. ECG is a diversified media company specializing in the distribution and acquisition of linear television channels and VOD/SVOD/PPV content across all media platforms.

October 4, 2016, Markham, Ontario – Ethnic Channels Group Limited (ECG), Canada’s largest distributor of third language television services, is pleased to announce the rejuvenation of Filipino TV (FTV) for the growing Filipino community across the country. Programming will be expanded to include more locally produced content ranging from news, talk shows, documentaries, reality series, entertainment, comedy, travel, spiritual, music videos and concerts.

“Ethnic Channels Group is pleased to be offering a completely rebranded channel featuring vibrant and varied TV content that everyone in the Filipino-Canadian community will love,” said Slava Levin, ECG’s CEO and co-founder. “In addition, for the first time in the history of the Filipino TV broadcasting in Canada, this channel will have programs made by and for Filipino-Canadians across all provinces.”

As part of the re-launch, FTV will partner with Filipino-Canadian communities across Canada to produce compelling content from each province, which will be filmed locally. This enriching content will add to the great FTV shows already filmed in ECG’s state-of-the-art in-house production facility in Markham, Ontario featuring the Filipino-Canadian community.

FTV’s highly anticipated new additions also include daily children’s programing as well as shows in Tagalog appealing to millennials. For the first time in Canada, the channel will bring to its viewers spiritual programming from Iglesia Ni Cristo.

The growth of the Filipino community has been a priority for the Government of Canada. According to government figures, in 2014, Canada welcomed more than 40,000 permanent residents from the Philippines, making the Philippines Canada's top source country for permanent residents. In this same year, over 700,000 Canadian residents could trace their ancestry back to the Philippines, and a growing number of Filipino citizens were visiting family and friends in Canada, studying at Canadian colleges and universities, or immigrating to Canada as permanent residents.